One of the creatures I include in my semi-annual frog and reptile workshop that takes place in St. Louis is this Mexican red knee tarantula. On black Plexiglas, it makes a striking picture. I've had a life-long fear of spiders, especially big ones, so for me this picture is all about overcoming my fears. One of the men I hire to provide the animals for the workshop offered to have me hold the tarantula, and I told hime I appreciated his sense of humor but I would rather drink a hemlock cooler! Instead of a 50mm macro lens, which would mean I'd be 5 or 6 inches away from the spider, I used a 70-200mm lens along with an extension tube so the working distance was about 2 feet. The lighting comes from a Canon ring flash. My settings were 1/125, f/32, and 400 ISO.
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